Cohen Takes Aim at Iraqi Propaganda

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
MANAMA, Bahrain -- There was nothing diplomatic in
Secretary of Defense William Cohen's warning about what
would happen if Saddam Hussein is successful in his
propaganda campaign to end U.N. sanctions against Iraq.
According to Cohen, if Hussein can manipulate opinion to
have the sanctions lifted, there will be "no restraint upon
his weapons of mass destruction program, no restraint upon
his missile production program, no inspectors, no control,
with revenues flowing back into his military."
Cohen spoke of the need to counter Hussein's propaganda
after an Oct 18 meeting with Bahrain's Amir Shaikh Hamad
bin Isa Al Khalifa. Bahrain, an island country
strategically located in the Persian Gulf, was Cohen's
first stop in a 10-nation, nine-day visit to the Middle
East.
The United Nations passed resolutions after the Gulf War
requiring Iraq to destroy all weapons of mass destruction
and the means to make them. To enforce compliance, it
imposed sanctions that prevented Iraq from trading with
other nations. The sanctions remain in effect because Iraq
refuses to allow U.N. inspectors to verify that the weapons
of mass destruction have been eliminated.
"Now what they are seeking to do is lift the sanctions,"
Cohen said. "So there will be absolutely no requirement on
Iraq to do what it was required to do at the end of the
Gulf War. This is simply unacceptable."
He warned against being misled by Hussein's effort to blame
the U.N. sanctions for creating shortages of food, medicine
and clothing in Iraq. "Iraq has been waging a successful
propaganda campaign, and we should see it for precisely
what it is -- propaganda," he said.
A U.N. report points out there is far less suffering in
northern Iraq, where Hussein has less control, than in the
south. "He does in fact manipulate millions of dollars
worth of humanitarian supplies," Cohen said. "He refuses to
distribute food and medicine and clothing to his own
people."
In 1997, a U.N. oil-for-food program allowed Iraq to sell
some oil and purchase humanitarian supplies. The United
Nations had offered the program since 1992, but Hussein
refused it. A British-Dutch resolution currently before the
United Nations aims to increase the scope of the oil-for-
food program to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi
people.
Cohen said the United States and its allies must counter
Hussein's propaganda. "We will continue to remind people
who Saddam is, and what he's done in the past, and what
he's capable of doing in the future."